Mirror Image
by Jedi1514
Summary: The Switch: It's beginning and end. Niou/Yagyuu (Platinum Pair) one-shot.


**A/N: First time writing a semi-romantic fic. If you have any suggestions, feel free to share.**

**Mirror Image**

When Niou said they were going to get supplies for their Switch, it was such a good idea it just had to be capitalized, according to Niou, Yagyuu expected a trip to Wal-mart, or maybe even one of those Halloween stores that are only open for three months. He certainly hadn't expected to be dragged into a store specializing in cosplay.

When they entered the store, Niou shot off like a rocket, navigating the store with an ease that suggested he had been there before. Yagyuu remained glued to the front of the store, gazing awestruck (though nobody could tell because of his glasses) at the merchandise displayed on the shelves.

"Yeah~gyuu" Niou whined off in the distance, and Yagyuu snapped his gaze towards a few tufts of silver-white hair he could see over the tops of the aisles. Sighing, he turned towards that aisle and walked over to Niou, who was bouncing lightly on the balls of his feet. He opened his mouth to ask Niou what they were there, but was abruptly cut short as Niou dropped a wig on his head.

Yagyuu protested faintly as Niou began to fuss with the wig, straightening it on his head and arranging the fibers carefully. After a few minutes Niou stepped back to admire his handiwork, and nodded resolutely to himself. Then he carefully removed the wig and set it on the bust, handing the entire set-up to Yagyuu before picking up his own bust that was sporting a wig that matched Yagyuu's hair almost exactly.

Yagyuu blinked when Niou started towards the door instead of the cash register at the back of the store.

"Niou?"

"Hmmm?"

"The register?"

"Oh. Yeah." Niou turned sharply on his heel and marched past Yagyuu on his way to the register. "I almost forgot. Puri." Yagyuu shook his head at the trickster's actions and followed him towards a long counter that sported a cash register, and had numerous costumes hanging on the wall behind it. On the shelves next to it was an array of prank materials. Figures Niou would frequent a place like this.

"Hey ma, you here?" Yagyuu was stunned when a blonde woman with Niou's stunning green-blue eyes appeared from a door behind the counter, carrying a box of what seemed to be inventory.

"Hi sweetie, how was school?"

"Good, we came to pick up that stuff for the Switch." Niou had told his mother about the Switch? Well, he could see her eyes sparkling with the same mischievous tint as her son's.

"I see you found the wigs."

"Yeah, did the glasses and contacts come in?"

"Mm-hmmm. I took the glasses home when I went back for lunch, but I put the contacts somewhere around here…" she trailed off and started pulling out bins and tubs and boxes from behind the counter.

"I think I dumped them all in here." Here was a giant box labeled 'contacts' in bold lettering. Niou's mother started pulling out boxes of disposable contacts, and Niou put his bust down on the counter so he could help her look. Yagyuu set his bust down next to Niou's, and noticed that his bust supported an exact replica of Niou's hair, and started sorting the contacts that Niou and his mother flung out of the box and onto the table. All of them were non-prescription, but each was a different color. Why someone would want pink contacts was beyond him.

"Found em'!" Niou had the box grasped triumphantly in his left hand.

"Here" The box was very much the same as the others, and the label proudly proclaimed they were green. The only difference was the small numbers printed next to the color. Yagyuu didn't even want to know how Niou got his prescription.

"When's the match again?"

"Saturday. You guys gonna come?"

"I'll try. I need to get someone to watch the store."

"Okay. We're gonna go try this stuff out."

"There's frozen dinners in the fridge if you get hungry."

"Okay, bye." Yagyuu barely had time to grab his bust before Niou grabbed his arm and dragged him out of the store.

"This is going to be so awesome. I can't wait to see the looks on their faces."

"We only switch back if it's a close game, though."

"If they're doubles one they should at least give us a good fight."

"You said that about the last two teams."

"Well they didn't have the nickname "Golden pair" now did they?" Niou had a point there. They fell silent for awhile while they waited for the bus. People gave them weird looks as they passed by. Yagyuu couldn't blame them. He pondered how they must look; two junior high students carrying busts that sported wigs that matched their hair. Only Niou.

"Your mother was interesting."

"You can say weird."

"She wasn't."

"She is. So are my siblings. And my dad. And you've known me for more than five minutes so you obviously know I'm weird." They were on the bus at this point, ignoring the weird looks people gave them as they rode.

"I don't think you're weird. You're interesting. In a weir-, unusual way." Niou smiled at that, his lips stretching into a real, full-hearted grin. Yagyuu smiled softly in return, knowing that Niou wasn't as self-confident as he seemed.

"Thank you." This was said softly, so softly Yagyuu almost didn't hear it. "You know me too well already."

"It's my job." Niou looked at him questioningly, surprise written on his face. "I'm your doubles partner aren't I?" Niou punched him lightly in the arm and turned back towards the front of the bus, the smile slipping off his face. Returning to his usual, detached disposition.

"Does your mother own that place?"

"My father." Of course Niou's father would own a shop specializing in cosplay/pranks. They were getting off the bus now, and walking down the road to Niou's house. It was large, larger than Yagyuu's, and modern. Yagyuu never got used to the purple walls, the unconnected artwork, and totally abstract paintings. Sanada could barely spend five minutes in Niou's house without going into shock from the unusual set-up. In return, Niou became stir-crazy after five seconds in Sanada's traditional house.

"Let's go try this stuff on." Niou was already bounding up the stairs by the time Yagyuu took off his shoes, and he shook his head at the trickster's antics.

Niou's bathroom was a warzone, his regular, everyday supplies mixed haphazardly with his pranking supplies. His toothbrush was next to several pairs of fake teeth, and his hairbrush was in an open drawer with a few cans of spray-on, temporary hair dye. There was bleach next to his shampoo. Niou was currently shoving all of this out of the way to make room for the supplies for their Switch.

"So how do we do this?"

Looking at himself as Niou was always a surreal experience. He smiled wolfishly at the mirror, then slowly let it morph into his usual, polite smile and pulled off his wig so the only thing that remained were the blue-green eyes. Sighing, he took the contacts out to reveal sharp, electric blue eyes. Niou always called them mercury.

The original green-blue eyes appeared in the mirror behind him and Yagyuu let a real smile break across his face. Turning, he enfolded the slightly shorter boy in his arms, and buried his face in wild silver locks. He felt a small wet spot forming where Niou's face was buried in his chest. He stroked the soft, silver strands gently and brought his lips to Niou's forehead, placing a soft kiss there. After awhile Niou's tears ran out and he raised his head to meet Yagyuu's gaze.

"It's all over now. The team. The Switch. Everything." Niou sniffled and tears pooled in his eyes once again. He tried to turn away, tried to keep Yagyuu from seeing him while he was so weak, so vulnerable. But Yagyuu gently cupped his face and turned it towards him, kissing away the strays tears that ran down the trickster's pale cheeks.

"The Switch may have ended, but we haven't. We'll never end; I'll make sure of it." Niou looked at him for a long moment, then smiled gently and wrapped his armed around Yagyuu, finally returning his embrace.

"You promise?"

"I promise we'll always be together." Yagyuu smiled down at Niou and slowly let go of his waist. "We have to get ready for graduation." Yagyuu was halfway to the door when Niou caught him and pulled him into a gentle kiss.

"You know, since we're still together,"

"And always will be."

"And always will be, the Switch doesn't necessarily have to end."

"You want to carry it on into university?"

"It would be unfair if we did not allow the university to be graced with the Switch when the junior high and high school were."

"….."

"Yagyuu?"

They went to graduation. They laughed, cried, took pictures, and went home. Their parents were pissed they had switched; now all their pictures were void, even if they looked exactly the same as if they were their actual selves. But Niou and Yagyuu didn't care because Niou was Yagyuu and Yagyuu was Niou and they were nothing without each other.

And by that logic, the Switch would never end.

**A/N: Thanks for reading!**


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